Hi you know the songs on The Miracle/Innuendo and they are all Queen compositions. Well which compositions should have gone to Freddie,Brian,Roger and John. This what I think.
Party:Queen
Khashoggi's Ship:Freddie
The Miracle:Freddie
I Want It All:Brian
The Invisible Man:Roger
Breakthru:John
Rain Must Fall:Brian & Roger
Scandal:Freddie,Brian and Roger
My Baby Does Me:John
Was It All Worth It:Freddie
Hang On In There:Roger
Chinese Torture:Brian
The Invisible Man (12" Version):Roger
Innuendo:Freddie
I'm Going Slightly Mad:Freddie
Headlong:Roger
I Can't Live With You:Brian
Don't Try So Hard:Freddie
Ride The Wild Wind:Roger
All God's People:Queen
These Are The Days Of Our Lives:Roger
Delilah:Freddie
The Hitman:Brian
Bijou:Brian
The Show Must Go On:Roger
Some of those songs are credited wrong. TSMGO was Brian's, Breakthru was Roger's, Scandal was Brian's, etc. Sebastian's site is great for giving due credit.
To be fair, the music of Show Must Go On is 80% constructed over a chord progression that was being played by Roger & Someone. Brian said in 1994 that "Someone" was John, in 2001 that "Someone" was John & Freddie, and in 2003 that "Someone" was himself.
About 'Headlong' - That song could have been written by Roger. I mean we know it wasn't (although it did go through changes once it was decided as a band track, not a Brian solo, but those changes were most likely in the arrangement than the songwriting, and a couple of lyrics maybe), but this is one of the cases that analyses can't solve for sure. The song itself is very simple and could have been written by anyone. We do know it's Brian because he said so.
Different case to All God's People, for instance
Sebastian wrote: To be fair, the music of Show Must Go On is 80% constructed over a chord progression that was being played by Roger & Someone. Brian said in 1994 that "Someone" was John, in 2001 that "Someone" was John & Freddie, and in 2003 that "Someone" was himself.
All his quotes about SMGO basically imply that the initial ideas for the sequence came from the other playing around in the studio and that he joined once he heard that sequence, starting "to put things down" because he heard the whole arrangement "descending from the skies" and the sequence got "thrust into" his head. That's the essence of all those quotes and they actually aren't that contradictory.
When he referred to Fred, John and Rog, he was talking generally about all members who were playing around in the studio at the time. He doesn't say who specifically came up with the sequence.
The quote that only mentions John and Rog specifically refers to them "playing" the sequence.
The latter quote, naming Roger and himself makes sense as well, as he actually did join later on.
He doesn't say that he played it first, but that it got thrust into his head when playing around with Roger.
Sorry if I'm being a bit nit-pickerish.
You're right, but there are in fact some contradictions:
1991 - "We put drums on a loop and then I put chords to it"
1994 - "TSMGO came from Roger and John playing the sequence and I started to put things down. I sat down with Freddie and we decided what the theme should be and wrote the first verse"
2001 - "John and Freddie and Roger had been playing around with things in the studio and I heard one of the sequences they had come up with, and I could just hear the whole thing descending from the skies... I did some demos, chopped things up, did some singing demos and some guitar and got it to a point where I could play it to the guys, and they all thought it was something worth pursuing"
So, Fred was with him or was with Roger and John? The chords were by him or he heard them from the others? Fred and him decided the theme of the song and started it or Brian did demos and showed them to the guys? Doesn't make sense.
Sebastian wrote: You're right, but there are in fact some contradictions:
1991 - "We put drums on a loop and then I put chords to it"
1994 - "TSMGO came from Roger and John playing the sequence and I started to put things down. I sat down with Freddie and we decided what the theme should be and wrote the first verse"
2001 - "John and Freddie and Roger had been playing around with things in the studio and I heard one of the sequences they had come up with, and I could just hear the whole thing descending from the skies... I did some demos, chopped things up, did some singing demos and some guitar and got it to a point where I could play it to the guys, and they all thought it was something worth pursuing"
So, Fred was with him or was with Roger and John? The chords were by him or he heard them from the others? Fred and him decided the theme of the song and started it or Brian did demos and showed them to the guys? Doesn't make sense.
Well, it actually does. He's clearly referring to different stages. Different memories of different occasions...all mixed together. It didn't happen all at once.
The 1991-quote doesn't have to refer to the initial creation of the sequence, but it could also be a demo of the song at a later stage (that's really what it seems to be when you look at the entire quote). The song did go through a lot of stages after all, both in terms of writing and in terms of recording it.
In fact, I do agree that his recollections of the entire situation may have been faulty or hazy in certain details and that there could be the odd contradiction in there, but the point is that you can't really weigh these quotes against each other in a sort of scientific way, because he always refers to slightly different details.
What a quick response, it looks like a chat already! Which is nice. Yes the story is very blurred still, but I doubt it'd get cleared at all because as time goes by Brian's (and anyone's) memory gets more distorted. So if in 1991 and 1994 he contradicted (very shortly after the song recording), I would expect more and more confusions nowadays. Perhaps in GVIII he'll say that he created the sequence and John wrote the lyrics :)
From those quotes is just sounds like the putting together of a song by those 4 individuals. Everyone has something to bring to it via writing, arranging, chord sequence ideas, certain sounds, etc. What stands out from those quotes is the group working together to make a great song.
Peace,
Adam.